Derham sends trio in search of Sovereign riches

Harry Derham is struggling to split Brentford Hope, Givemefive and Court In The Act who all run in the Fitzdares Sovereign Handicap Hurdle at Windsor on Friday.

With £110,000 up for grabs, Derham was keen to get his hands on as much of it as possible, especially with Windsor’s new jump track being one of his local venues.

Brentford Hope must carry top-weight but is still the choice of stable jockey Paul O’Brien, while Givemefive, owned by golfers Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka, needs to bounce back from a slightly disappointing run in Ireland last time out.

Court In The Act was an eight-length winner at Market Rasen back in October but he has been raised 10lb by the handicapper.

“I don’t really have a pecking order. They are obviously three of my best horses, but I think if a racecourse is putting on such fantastic prize money, particularly local to me, then I was very keen to support the race,” said Derham.

“It obviously suits all of them. Brentford Hope is quite clearly the classiest of the three, but he’s got to carry a lot of weight.

“They are all in really good form, I’m pleased with the preparation of all of them, it will be a very tough race but they’ve all got a decent chance in what is a great pot.”

Givemefive’s season began with a win at Cheltenham, but he had no answer behind Willie Mullins’ potential new star Anzadam at Fairyhouse.

“I’m not saying for one second Givemefive would have got within 10 lengths of the winner in Ireland, but I was disappointed with his effort at Fairyhouse,” said Derham.

“He’s just run a bit quiet the both times we’ve travelled him, so I don’t think that will be something I’ll be in a rush to do with him again.

“It’s tough to quite know where he is in terms of his mark, but he’s in great nick, he deserves his spot in a race like this so we’ll let him take his chance.”

His third runner, Court In The Act, is the least exposed having had just five runs over hurdles.

“Court In The Act is a progressive horse. Obviously it was a shame he won by as far as he did (eight lengths) and got the mark he did but he’s progressive, he’s got a nice weight – whether he’s quite up to a race like this we’ll find out, but we’re keen to let him take his chance,” said Derham.

“I’d say Brentford Hope probably wishes he had the same weight on his back as when he ran on the Flat at Windsor!

“He’s obviously been a star for me, but he’s carrying a lot of weight. His main objective this season has always been the Kingwell Hurdle and it continues to be, but we’re very keen to get a race into him before that.

“He’ll be trying his best, he faces a tough task with the weight but Paul was still keen to ride him as he’s a classy horse, even with 12st.”

Dan Skelton is represented by Knickerbockerglory, who won a valuable race at Sandown last time out. He has been raised 7lb for that effort.

“Knickerbocker Glory has been a great horse for us. He loves soft conditions and the Sovereign Handicap Hurdle is a valuable race,” said Skelton.

“Whether the handicapper has him now, I don’t know, but it was a good race he won at Sandown. He made all the running in atrocious ground, so the handicapper has bumped him up and you have to take your medicine.

“He has had a good break between his races which he needs. It is the obvious race to go for and I hope he’s a player. The worse the ground, the better for him.”